I love names. So naturally, I love the website www.behindthename.com. One of the features that I particularly like is the personal name list where you basically create a list of names. My list includes about 40 names for pets, people, characters, or just interesting names.

Feminine Names:

Acacia Pronounced: ə-KAY-shə From the name of a type of tree, ultimately deriving from Greek ακη (ake) “thorn, point”.

Alana Pronounced: ə-LAN-ə Feminine form of Alan

Alexandra (Αλεξανδρα Ancient Greek) Pronounced: ah-lek-SAHN-drah Feminine form of ALEXANDER. In Greek mythology this was a Mycenaean epithet of the goddess Hera, and an alternate name of Cassandra. It was also borne by the wife of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia. She was from Germany and had the birth name Alix, but was renamed Alexandra upon joining the Russian Church.

Alexis Pronounced: ə-LEK-sis From the Greek name Αλεξις, which meant “helper” or “defender. This was the name of a 3rd-century BC Greek comic poet, and also of several saints. It is used somewhat interchangably with the related name Αλεξιος or Alexius, borne by five Byzantine emperors. In the English-speaking world it is more commonly used as a feminine name.

Cadence Pronounced: KAY-dənts From an English word meaning “rhythm, flow”. It has been in use only since the 20th century.

Hayley Pronounced: HAY-lee From a surname which was originally derived from the name of an English town (meaning “hay clearing” from Old English heg “hay” and leah “clearing”). It was popularized by the British child actress Hayley Mills (1946-), though the name did not become common until over a decade after she first became famous.

Madison Pronounced: MAD-i-sən From an English surname meaning “son of MAUD”. It was not commonly used as a feminine name until after the movie ‘Splash’ (1984), in which the main character adopted it as her name after seeing a street sign for Madison Avenue in New York City. A famous bearer of the surname was James Madison (1751-1836), one of the authors of the American constitution who later served as president.

Nadia Pronounced: NAHD-yə It began to be used in France in the 19th century. The name received a boost in popularity due to the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci (1961-).

Stella Pronounced: STEL-ə Means “star” in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Sir Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets ‘Astrophel and Stella’. It was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams’ play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.

Sydney Pronounced: SID-nee From a surname which was a variant of the surname SIDNEY. This is the name of the largest city in Australia, which was named for Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney in 1788. Since the 1990s this name has been mainly feminine.

Tamara Pronounced: tah-MAH-rah It was introduced to the English-speaking world by Russian performers such as Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), Tamara Drasin (1905-1943), Tamara Geva (1907-1997) and Tamara Toumanova (1919-1996). It was also borne by the Polish cubist painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980). This name also coincides with a Sanskrit word meaning “spice”.

Tatiana Pronounced: tah-TYAH-nah Feminine form of the Roman name Tatianus, a derivative of the Roman name Tatius, which is of unknown meaning. This was the name of a 3rd-century saint who was martyred in Rome under the emperor Alexander Severus. She was especially venerated in Orthodox Christianity, and the name has been common in Russia and Eastern Europe. It was not regularly used in the English-speaking world until the 1980s.

Tatum Pronounced: TA-təm From a surname which was originally derived from a place name meaning “Tata’s homestead” in Old English.

Temperance Pronounced: TEM-prənts From the English word meaning “moderation” or “restraint”. This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century.

Masculine Names:

Aleksey (Алексей Russian) Pronounced: ah-lyek-SYAY Russian form of ALEXIS. This was the name of a 17th-century czar of Russia.

Alexandros (Αλεξανδρος Ancient Greek) Ancient and modern Greek form of ALEXANDER

Aurelius Ancient Roman Roman family name which was derived from Latin aureus “golden, gilded”. Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and philosophical writer. This was also the name of several early saints.

Bastian Pronounced: BAHS-tee-ahn Short form of SEBASTIAN

Caden KAY-dən Possibly from the Gaelic surname Mac Cadáin, which means “son of Cadán”. The name Cadán may be related to CATHÁN.

Clayton Pronounced: KLAY-tən From a surname which was originally from an Old English place name meaning “clay settlement”.

Cyrus Pronounced: SIE-rəs From Κυρος (Kyros), the Greek form of the Persian name Kûrush, which may mean “far sighted” or may be related to the Persian word khur “sun”. The name is sometimes associated with Greek κυριος (kyrios) “lord”. It was borne by several kings of Persia, including Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon. He is famous in the Old Testament for freeing the captive Jews and allowing them to return to Israel. As an English name, it first came into use among the Puritans after the Protestant Reformation.

Griffin Pronounced: GRIF-in Latinized form of GRUFFYDD. This name can also be inspired by the English word griffin for the creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

Jasper Pronounced: JAS-pər (English) Means “treasurer” in Persian. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone.

Logan Pronounced: LO-gən From a surname which was originally derived from a Scottish place name meaning “little hollow” in Scottish Gaelic.

Marcus Pronounced: MAHR-kəs (English) Roman praenomen, or given name, which was probably derived from the name of the Roman god MARS. Famous Roman bearers of this name were Marcus Tullius Cicero (known simply as Cicero), a 1st-century BC statesman and orator, Marcus Antonius (known as Mark Antony), a 1st-century BC politician, and Marcus Aurelius, a notable 2nd-century emperor. This was also the name of a pope of the 4th century. This spelling has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world, though the traditional English form Mark has been more common.

Parker Pronounced: PAHR-kər From an English occupational surname which meant “keeper of the park”.

Payton Pronounced: PAY-tən Variant of PEYTON

Phoenix Pronounced: FEE-niks From the name of a beautiful immortal bird which appears in Egyptian and Greek mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years. The name of the bird was derived from Greek φοινιξ (phoinix) meaning “dark red”.

Raiden Variant transcription of RAIJIN

Sawyer Pronounced: SOI-ər From a surname meaning “sawer of wood” in Middle English. It was used by Mark Twain for the hero in his novel ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ (1876).

Sebastian Pronounced: se-BAHS-tee-ahn From the Roman name Sebastianus which meant “from Sebaste” in Latin. Sebaste was the name a town in Asia Minor, its name deriving from Greek σεβαστος (sebastos) “venerable” (a translation of Latin Augustus, the title of the Roman emperors). Saint Sebastian was a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyred by arrows after it was discovered he was a Christian. Due to the saint’s popularity, the name came into general use in medieval Europe, especially in Spain and France. It was also borne by a 16th-century king of Portugal who died in a crusade against Morocco.

Trent Pronounced: TRENT From a surname which originally denoted someone who lived by the Trent River in England. Trent is also a city in Italy, though the etymology is unrelated.

Trenton Pronounced: TREN-tən From the name of a New Jersey city established in the 17th century by William Trent. It means “TRENT’s town”.

Today in choir, we had a college barbershop quartet visiting from Sweden. They were wonderful. Here is their website: http://www.ringmastersquartet.com/?en. Or, you can just watch this video of them singing Blackbird. Enjoy!

There is a store in town that recently filed for bankruptcy and will be closing very soon. It is a furniture store. And, well I have been wanting a new bed for a long time. My dog isn’t good at sharing a twin bed…

Well, my mom and I found this bed. It was designed for a mattress only, but the store display had box springs too, and its excitingly huge (the top of the mattress is about 4 feet high) that way, so thats what we got.

Now, here lies the problem. We got the floor model. So it came with no directions. Despite that, we got the main frame of the bed together. But it has these drawers that go under the bed. There are these ‘L’ shaped wooden things that (I think) are supposed to hold the drawers up… but I can find no way to attach them… I’ll probably just ask my dad to make some sort of frame for the drawers, but if anyone has an idea of how it goes together, that would be great!!!

This is also a good reason why I can’t have another knee surgery… there is no whay I could vault up onto my bed…

If you follow my blog, you may have noticed that my countdown to graduation suddenly went from about 11 months to 18 months. Well, this unfortunate change is due to the fact that I am pretty much fed up with the ridiculous requirements put in place by my school (I mean Introduction to Computer Information Systems, seriously???). So, since I would have been graduating with my AAS with about 40 extra credits. And, well, this put me really close (as in 6 months) away from my BA. On top of that, the school I’d go to (where my dad happens to teach…) is based entirely in independent studies of your own creation, which is perfect because I already do these sorts of independent studies, just without the credit. I’d also like to start the Police Academy next January, and this should still work with that.

When I was younger, my grandma would make the absolute best snack. And, for several weeks now I’ve been wanting some, but I won’t be at her house until April… So today I made some myself, and it is just as wonderful as I remembered.

2 sticks real butter

1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

1 c. peanut butter

3 c. powdered sugar

1 reg. box Rice Chex cereal

Melt together first 3 ingredients and pour over Rice Chex into large bowl; stir (without mashing) until coated. Sift powdered sugar onto the chocolate coated mix and continue to stir until all the powdered sugar is mixed in.

I just realised that class starts a week from tomorrow, and I don’t have notebooks and such…. Time to go to Staples. But I’ll be out of town this weekend, so I guess that leaves tomorrow or next Tuesday… Oh well…

I love swimming. In an outdoor. At night. In January. And yes, I’m serious.

My mom and I are members at a local sports club which has a large outdoor saltwater pool. In the winter, they put this huge bubble-tarp over the pool. Its neat any time, but especially fun at night. The only lighting comes from two underwater lights at opposite ends of the pool. The pool is also heated during the winter, so the whole bubble fills with mist – thick enough that when combined with the limited lighting, you can’t see across the pool. its a little spooky, but so much fun!